Door



Oct. 1939. K, RNlsET 2,174,524

DOOR

Filed April l, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet l wllluww ff;

K. R. NISBET Oct. 3, 1939.

DOOR

Filed April l, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 @www 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 K. R. NISBET Oct. 3, 1939.

DOOR

Filed April l. 1938 Oct. 3, 1939.

K. R. NISBET DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 1, 1938 Oct. 3, 1939. K. R. NlsBET 2,174,524

n DooR Filed April 1, 193s 5 sheets-sheet 5 J Imam/bof Patented oct. 3,1939

UNITED STATES' PATENT ori-ics neunten a. minanunmn, xy.A V .EL?'

(Granted under the met March 3, lass, as amended April 30. 1928; 370 0. G. .757)

The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without .the payment of any .royaltythereon y This invention relates to doors'and more particularly to mechanically operated, electrically controlled doors having a plurality of sections' t position, and provided with means for 'discontinulng the movement of the doorl sections at intermediate positions of their movement, to provide a partial opening of the door. f

Doors 'of the'character here disclosed are'particularly adapted-for use in hangers wherein the door openings are very large and to meet requirements for increase in width and heighth, d ue to gthe continual increase in lsize of airships.`

An object o! this invention is to provide means regardless of the number. the size, or weight of the door sections, to fully accomplish the desired movement of the doors in a` safe prompt and economical manner.

A further object is to provide means whereby the movement of the door sections in either direction may be interrupted, in any position and then continue from said position in either direction, a yi'ull open or closed position of the doors 3 not being at all times required.V

\ A 'further object is to provide means if re- `quired, at a plurality of adjacent or remote points, for the operation oi the doors.

Another object is to provide a mechanism suitable not only for the operation of a single door of a plurality of sections as a closure, but also one that when the opening is of a size to demand it, is suitable for operation of two sectional doors eachadapted to close one half of the opening, said doors operating in opposite directions to provide a central opening of any desired width up.

parts, which will appear in the specification andy be fully pointed out in the claims.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention isshown, it will be understood that changes in form and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofA the invention and fall beyond the scope of the claims.

lSimilar numerals indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view showing the relative positions of the sections o! a door.

Figs. 2-.21l and 2b combined, show an elevation on an enlarged scale, of a-door, parts'being brolmechanism at the top of the doors.

Fig. 5 is aA wiring diagram of the various elements for the electrical control of the improved door operating mechanism. The black heavy lines indicate motor leads carrying normal motor current, the light lines indicate conductors for the control current and the dot-dash lines indicate a complete assembly of `a particular unit.

Reference now being had to the drawings, A is one of a pair of door members each consisting of a plurality of sections, adapted to operate toward rand from each other to close an opening of large dimensions such as `are common in present hangar construction. B is the other door correspond-`-` ing 4in construction to door A and operating with same in an opposite direction, saidA doors adapted to reach full closed or full open or any intermediate positionsY simultaneously.

Door member A. consists of sections A--L A-2, A-3 and A-4 supported on rollers, operating on parallel rails separated a suiiicient distance to permit each door section to pass the adjacent section and reach a nested retracted position, with the door entirely or partly open or extended into entirely or partly closed position. The doorsections when operated in either direction travel at relatively different speeds to provide for the arrival of same at the extreme limits of their travel simultaneously.

Endless door operating cables or the like A-S, A-6, A-1, A-r'iare connected to door sections A-i A-2, A--B and A-4 respectively and operate over idler ,pulleys A-9 and A--I loosely mounted on shafts A-H and A-|2, the slack fof said cables being supported on anti-friction on shaft C are four double grooved power pulleys door cables A-li, B-5, A-6, B-6, A-l, B-'l and A-B and'B-B operate. Said power pulleys are of relatively different diameters to cause the cables to operate the respective door section to which they are attached at such rates as will cause them to reach their full open or closed and intermediate positions simultaneously.

It will be understood that the bite of the door operating cables attached to sections of doors A and JB, encircle their respective driving pulleys in opposite directions thus causing the door sections of door members A and B to move toward or from each other when the driving shaft is rotated in one direction or the other. The above is accomplished as shown by arranging theportion of the cables to which the sections of door A are secured to travel beneath, up and out from the above power pulleys and by arranging the cables of corresponding sections of door B to pass over and out from beneath their respective 4power puileys when for instance, the door sections are closing. By said arrangement of the cables, a movement of the power shaft will cause doors A and B to movein opposite directions.

By reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings it will be seen that additional separate idler pulleys B--Q are mounted on shaft B-ll which'permits theA threading of the cables as above described, and cause the movement of the sections of doors A and Bin opposite directions.

'Ihe sections of doors A and B if preferred may be nested, when they are in their fully open positions in door pockets A-II and B-M respectively.

The door members A and B, each section in many instances, weighing over two tons, and requirements calling for increases in size and weight continually as the openings are increased, are for structural reasons operated on rails II-I, H-2, H-3, H-4 beneath the doors and require means of a positive and powerful character to move the gross weight of over eighty tons, to speed up the movement of the doors, then check the momentum of such a weight and nally bring the entire mass to a full stopA at a' deflnite point without damage to the operating parts, and the structure here shown is adapted to accomplish said accurate control automatically, the element of possible human failure being entirely eliminated, it being necessary only to manually throw travel.

Door sections A-I, A-Z, A-3, and A-4 and door sections B-I, B-Z, B-3 and B--Ioperated on rails HI, H--2, H-3 and H-4 respectively, in opposite directions at corresponding speeds f and reach full open, and full closed or any of their intermediate positions at the same time. Said operating a stop switch and from said position be operated in either direction, by tripping the oper'- ating mechanism for operation in the desired direction.

To accomplish the above, the power shaft C is extended and has mounted thereon the worm gear of'a non-reversible form of worm drive I, wherein the worm gear I-I has meshing with it the worm 1 2, its shaft I-I being coupled at I-I to the shaft of a two speed, two winding squirrel cage inductin motprJ.

A drum switch K, having shaft K-l von which spur gear K-l is mounted is geared by pinion K-S to the power shaft C and is adapted to be tacts normally elosed.

vided with stationary contacts K-I, K-2, K-3

and K-i and K-S being the low speed contacts and K-ii vbeing the high speed contact. y Said switch is further provided with moving contacts contacts and K- being the high speed contact. When the moving contacts travel in the direction of the arrow, K-S iirst contacts K-I and as it leaves K--i, K-5 contacts K--2 and as the movement continued K-d contacts K-l and nally said moving contacts occupy the position shown in dot and dash lines, after having passed through phases from stationary first into low speed with K--B and K-i in contact, then high speed with K-- and K-2 in contact, then again into low speed with K- and K--3 in contact and naliy to stationary, a movement of the drum ln the opposite direction reverses the order of the contacts, and the door moves in an opposite direction.

L is a reversing type, automatic controller for a two speed motor J, containing four, 3-pole contactors L-l, L-2, L-3 and L-4 and also selectol'r relay L-5. v

In Fig.g5 are shown L-l which indicates the low speed contacter for the door closing operation, L-2 the high speed contacter for the door closirm operation, 1.-3 the low speed contactar for the door opening operation, and L--4 the high speed contactor for the door opening operation.

`L---li indicates the relay with normally open contacts for the selection of the proper contactors,

to operate as the doors are opened or closed, and is a 3-pole double throw unit I provided with two operating coils, one each L-8,;for the door opening and L-9 for the door closing operations.

Contactors L-I and L-2 andalsoL-I and L--l v are mechanically interlocked by levers L-C and L-'I respectively, to prevent both closing at the same time, thus providing for the opening of both contactors of each group at the same time but permitting only one to close, which is safety precaution for the electrical circuits.

M indicates a push button control station having (Fig.'5) M--l a push button to close the doors, M a button to open the doors and an emergency button M-l to stop the doors while' they are in motion in either direction. vPush buttons MI and M-2 for both double 'contact with all contacts normally open, M-l has single con- N indicates a remote push button commi mtion similar to station M showing the hook up of door sections may be stopped in any position be tween the limits of their movements by manually wiring with control station M and relay O indicates a three phase, I wire, alternating current generator.

The electrical units provided for in the above are all standard equipment and no claim is made for novelty therein, it being understood that various types of units for performing the functions described are available on the market. It is claimed, however, that the combined arrangement of said elementswith the mechanical elcments arranged as described provide a door operating mechanism .particularly adapted for present requirements.

The mechanical operation of the door is obvious wherein the motor through worm gear drives the power shaft on which pullen o! difereach other, which either opens same.

ent diameters 'are rigidly moimted, over which cables secured to doors on opposite sides of the power shaft, travelin opposite directions, thus causing corresponding door sections connected to said cables to travel toward and away from closes the opening or The action of the electrical control based upon both doors being closed and it is desired to fully open them, is a's follows:

The electrical system is energized by generator O, all current for thev controls or pilot circuitis taken at point OI.

Button M-2 is depressed by the operator and held for a short interval, as the contacts of this button are'closed, the opening coil L-l of the selector switch is energized thus closing the three selector switch contacts noted on the right side, and at the same time closing contactor L-i and placing a voltage on drum switch contacts K-S and K-i. As contactor L-I is closed motor J starts at low speed which movement causes the drum of switch K to rotate, which in turn brings K-B in contact with K-I at which instant the push button Mv-I may be released, further action being automatic.

As long as K-B is in contact with K-|, con- -tactor L-3 is closed and motor J rotates at low speed and drum switch K is rotated by virtueof its mechanical connections. As K-S breaks contact with 'Kw-I, K-B makes contact with K-2 and this action de-energizes contactor L- which opens and energized L-l which closes thus causing the motor J to go from low to high speed. The motor continues to operate at its VLhigh speed which action in turn causes contact K-6, to move over K-2 until finally K-S breaks contact with K-2 which energizes and opens contactor LA--L At this instant K-4 contacts K which energiaes and closes contactor L-3 thus throwingI the motor back on low speed. The motor then operates at this low speed as long as K-4y makes contact with K-3 and when this contact is broken, contacter L--3 is de-energized which in turn stops the motor and 'at the same time coil L-t is de-en`erglzed and the selector switch L-5 is brought to its normally open position.

Ii for some reason a Slight further movement of the door is. desired, the push button M-l-2 may be depressed and quickly released to give inching or slight further movement to the doors.

To close the doors, button lVI--I is depressed and the action is as described above but withv closing contactera L-i and lli-2 and selector switch coil L-Q utilised in lieufof the opening elements. Y

It is to be noted that worm drive I affords mechanical advantage to motor J during the periods of acceleration and uniform motion and permitting the use of a motor of .comparatively small rating. In addition, worm drive I aords braking effort during the deceleration and stopping periods which is explained in the following manner: For example, if the door is in motion and approaching the fully opened position, sections A--I, A-2, A-3, A-l, are all moving in the same direction but with different velocities. If the energy to the motor is suddenly interrupted, the individual momentums of the sections tend to equalize. thus throwingf'the resultant force to shaft C. Worm drive I, being fully non-reversible, .tends to stop immediately but is prevented from doing so by the momentum of the rotor of motor J, which must of necessity rotate a few doors.

revolutions. The` net result of the combination of the elements of driving mechanism is lpositive deceleration and a definite stop without 'the use of a separate braking means. This is of particular importance in automatic stopping at the closed position for it is obvious that all sections must reach a definite stopping point without jarring the parts. It follows that in automatic stopping only close limits are permissible possibly not to exceed one-half inch, hence any form of direct braking will only result in unsatisfactory operation due to the maintenance problem in frelquent adjustments. 'Ihis is particularly true in .regards to double doors wherein there is no center support for the structural members over the Under certain conditions, however, such as with extremely slowly moving doors, the driving mechanism may be so modified as to meet such a condition.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mechanically operated electrically controlled sliding door comprising oppositely arranged door members each having a plurality of offset sections movable relative to each other as the doorrmembers and their door sections are operated in opposite directions from open to closed position, the doorsections of each door member being relatively extended when the door is closed and relatively retracted into parallelism with their positions in alignment at right angles to their movement when the door is open, a power shaft, door operating pulleys of different diam- -eters rigidly mounted on said shaft, idler pulleys a loosely mounted on shafts on opposite sides of said power shaft, in alignment with said operat- -shaft in alignment with said operating pulleys in either direction including, a reversible motor geared to and adapted to operate ,said power shaft in either direction, means for automatically controlling the movement of the motor in either direction, manually operated means for selecting the direction of rotation ofthe motor and initiating the movement of the door sections to full open and to full closed positions and means for interrupting the movement of the door at any intermediate position.

2. A mechanically operated electrically controlled sliding door comprising opposltely arranged door members each having a plurality of correspondingly oifset sections movablerelative to each other as the door members and their door sections are operated in opposite directions from open to closed position, the door sections of each door member being relatively extended beyond its adjacent section when the door is closed and relatively retracted when the door is fully open, a power shaft, a plurality of dual door op'- erating pulleys of different diameters rigidly mounted on said shaft, idler pulleys looseLv mounted on shafts on opposite sides of said power shaft, in alignment with said operating pulleys, endless iiexlble members extending in opposite directions and operating over said dual operating pulleys and their respective idler pulleys, and connected to the sections of their respective aligned door members adapted to cause relative 75 simultaneous movement of corresponding sections of the door members at different speeds in opposite directions to open and to closed positions, means for operating said power shaft in g either direction, including a reversible motor direction at low, high and then low speeds,`

means for tripping said 'automatic 'means and means for interruptingmovement of the door.

3. A mechanically operated electrically controlled sliding door comprising oppositely arranged door members each having a plurality of correspondingly offset sections movable relative to each other as the door members and their door sections are operated in opposite directions from open to closed position, the Idoor sections of each door member being relatively extended beyond its adjacent section when the door is closed and relatively retracted when the door is fully open, a power shaft, a plurality of dual door operating pulleys of different diameters rigidly mounted on said, shaft, idler pulleys loosely mounted on shafts on opposite sides of said power shaft, in alignment with said operating pulleys, endless exible members extending in opposite directions over said operating pulleys andv their respective idler pulleys, and connected to the respective sections of the door members adapted to cause relative simultaneous corresponding movement of respective sections of the door members at different corresponding speeds in opposite directions to open and to closed positions, means for operating said power shaft in either direction, a Worm drive geared to said power shaft, and adapted to operate same in either direction, a reversible motor adapted to operate said power shaft in either direction, means for automatically controlling the movement of the motor in either direction including manually operated means for selecting the direction of rotation of the motor and initiating the movement of the doors, means for automatically operating the motor and the movement of the doors in either direction at low, high and then low speeds, means for tripping said automatic means, means for interrupting said automatic `movement of the doors, and means for continuing the movement in either direction after interruption as and for the purposes specied.

KENNETH R. NISBET. 

